Overview
Graduate student supervision requires complex interaction between graduate students and the graduate supervisor. Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs (GSPA), in collaboration with the Graduate Student Association (GSA), established this award to recognize exemplary faculty members who have demonstrated excellence in graduate student supervision, through being a mentor, advisor, role model, humanist and a strategist who exemplifies a high level of energy and ingenuity. Normally, three faculty members will be recognized annually.
Value
Recipients of this prestigious award will receive $1,000 (taxable).
Eligibility criteria
- At the time of nomination, the nominee must be a faculty member who is either tenured, on tenure-track, or retired, provided retirement occurred within the past 2 years.
- Nominee must have had a career in academia as a faculty member for at least 10 years; preference will be given to those who have been a faculty member at the University of Waterloo for a minimum of 5 years.
- Nominee must not have previously won the award within the last 10 years (they may be re-nominated after this time).
Evaluation criteria
Nominees will be evaluated based on the following criteria, with equal weighting (50/50) given to each:
- Supervisor as an advisor as demonstrated by:
- Establishing common expectations with students that promote student agency in research direction and career trajectories;
- Effective guidance and planning of graduate research for their students;
- Established a mechanism for ongoing interaction with graduate students;
- Timely reading and provision of feedback on students' work;
- Maintaining their role as an advisor while instilling independence among students;
- Fostering and facilitating students' skills for problem-solving, critical thinking, self-directed learning, and effective communication;
- Promoting the dissemination and presentation of students' research results; and
- Connecting, as appropriate, their graduate students to external networks that advance students' postgraduate opportunities
- Supervisor as a humanist/mentor as demonstrated by:
- Commitment to students’ welfare;
- Provision of a caring atmosphere for the students;
- Demonstrating the value of and creating environments where students with diverse lived experiences, cultures, and heritages can thrive and be celebrated;
- Willingness to provide guidance which may not be related to academic matters; and
- Providing guidance related to student career goals
Nomination process
Nominations are initiated by "nominator". The nominator must be a current or former graduate student, who is/was directly supervised by the nominee (faculty member). The nominator must solicit support from other past and present graduate students of the nominee who were supervised or received guidance or informal mentorship from them. Additionally, the nominator must solicit support from senior academic colleagues (e.g., Chair or Associate Chair/Graduate Officer of the Department, Faculty Dean, Faculty Associate Dean).
Once sufficient support has been obtained, the nominator must put together a nomination package and submit it to the Department Graduate Co-ordinator of the nominee's home department by the deadline - see Nomination package components section below for details.
A total of 10 supporting letters are permitted as part of the nomination package with 1-3 letters being from senior academic colleagues. Nominators are welcome to receive additional letters but are limited to including their top 10 as part of the package.
Nominators must inform the letter writers that their letters may be shared with faculties, departments and even the nominee and/or that quotes from the letters may be used for promotional or celebratory purposes.
Nominators can choose to either notify the nominee that they are being nominated, or nominate them privately.
Unsuccessful nominations will be kept in the department or faculty for one year and can be re-nominated the following year. To re-nominate the following year, nominators must check with the department or faculty as appropriate in order to access the package that was submitted (new letters may be added or can replace existing ones).
Nomination package components:
Preparing nomination packages: Nominators should download the Section Title Page Template [refer to the Helpful Resources and Forms section]. Once the relevant information has been added to the title pages, those pages should be converted from .docx to .pdf. If you require assistance with merging the section title pages with the nomination package materials, please request assistance from the Department Graduate Co-ordinator of the nominee's home department. Do not embed the .pdf files into the .docx file.
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Nomination package components |
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Nomination Form |
Download and complete the Award of Excellence in Graduate Supervision nomination form |
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Section 1 |
Section title page - use the Section Title Page Template [refer to the Helpful Resources and Forms section] + An abbreviated CV can be obtained by:
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Section 2 |
Section title page - use the Section Title Page Template [refer to the Helpful Resources and Forms section] +
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Section 3 |
Section title page - use the Section Title Page Template [refer to the Helpful Resources and Forms section] + Supporting letters should describe the outstanding supervisory record of the nominee as per the evaluation criteria.
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Section 4 |
Section title page - use the Section Title Page Template [refer to the Helpful Resources and Forms section] +
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Important dates
**When the advertised deadline below falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the deadline date is the preceding Friday.
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Date |
Deadline/Activity |
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November 12** |
Deadline for nominator to email the nomination package to Department Graduate Co-ordinator of the nominee's home department |
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November 12**- [Faculty-set deadline] |
Department Action:
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[Faculty-set deadline] – December 12 |
Faculty action:
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December 12 – |
Institutional selection committee to make final selections; GSPA to communicate results:
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Institutional selection committee
All nominations will be reviewed by an institutional selection committee comprised of the following members:
- Interim Associate Vice-President, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs or designate
- Advisory Committee on Scholarships and Awards
- GSA President or designate
- One faculty member nominated by the UW Faculty Association
Helpful resources and forms
Questions regarding this award can be directed to the Co-ordinator, Graduate Financial Aid & Awards in Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs.